1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a cup holder for use together with a container of hot or cold liquid to permit such individual to grasp comfortably and conveniently the exterior surface to such container. In addition, printed indicia are easily viewable on the cup holder itself.
2. Description of Prior Art
Holders are currently used for hot and cold beverage containers. Such holders are constructed out of cardboard, foam, and plastic material. Thick corrugated holders have been constructed out of such items but are too bulky, making it difficult to place them over cups and sometimes a waste of material. Many conventional holders are difficult to grasp because they are thin and consequently, susceptible to tearing. A thin holder does not provide much insulation for the container and could burn someone if the container is hot. In addition, such cup holders do not provide much resilience since they are thin. Furthermore, such cup holders are created to be only for xe2x80x9csingle-usexe2x80x9d with a particular container. For instance, paper type material holders may get wet and therefore become damaged for any further use.
Many plastic holders are constructed out of a thin, translucent manner such that indicia already on the cup can be visible. Indicia must be pre-printed on a container in order for the public to recognize the indicia on the container. Because the plastic cup holder is so thin and translucent, indicia may not be printed on the cup holder or cup sleeve and may only be pre-printed on the container. It is thus inconvenient and more expensive for cups to have pre-printed indicia on the cup. In addition, there is insufficient insulation provided by such thin cup holders. Grasping hot drinks with such thin cup holders makes it very uncomfortable and even dangerous for the consumer""s hands. Paper product cup sleeves such as cardboard cup sleeves do not provide much insulation either and heat from hot drinks penetrating through such cup sleeves tend to burn a consumer""s hands or make it extremely uncomfortable.
It is therefore desirable to have a thick, opaque, non-translucent, polymer foam cup holder which has printed indicia on the interior or exterior of the cup sleeve that can be visible there from. At the same time, there is a need for such a cup holder that is not too bulky, attractive to the eye and functions to insulate the cup from being too cold or too hot for a user""s hand.
The object of the present invention is to provide a holder for a container to permit an individual to easily grasp the exterior of a hot or cold container safely, and securely without the cup sleeve being susceptible to tearing. In addition, the present invention makes holding the container easy to use by providing flexibility, resilience and lightness. Furthermore, the cup holder provides high cushioning and compression strength which allows the holder to be used for repeated use applications.
The object of the invention is to provide a safe and secure cup sleeve which serves to insulate a hot or cold container with the indicia printed on the interior or exterior of cup sleeve. Consequently, this invention allows the sleeve to be tear-resistant, flexible, resilient, and easy to handle. The result of this invention is that it makes it easy and comfortable to use the cup sleeve.
The objects of the invention can be achieved by providing a sheet foam of a thick, opaque, polymer material that is suitable for snuggly fitting over the exterior surface of the container while permitting the pre-printed indicia on the sheet foam to be visible there through. The foam is also available in a variety forms such as anti-static, laminated, expanded and high or low density which provides different degrees of protection.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the sleeve is comprised of two layers of polymer material laminated together whereby the sleeve has an inner layer to be placed in contact with the container and an outer layer to be placed in contact with a consumer""s hand. The inner layer is constructed of a low density polymer foam material while the outer layer is constructed of a polymer film material permitting indicia to be printed on its surfaces.
In another embodiment of the present invention the outer layer of the sleeve is made of a polymer material that has a higher density than the low density polymer material used for the inner layer. Furthermore, other embodiments of the present invention disclose the low density polymer material is a low density polyethylene foam while the outer layer is constructed of high density polyethylene film. In yet another embodiment, the inner layer is constructed of low density polyethylene foam while the outer surface is constructed of a low density polyethylene film. The inner layer may be constructed of expanded polyethylene foam while the outer layer is made of high density polyethylene film, low density polyethylene film, linear low density polyethylene film or oriented polypropylene film.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, the sleeve has an inner layer and outer layer having a combined thickness of about 0.3 mm to 3.0 mm. Furthermore, an embodiment includes a fully assembled and ready to use sleeve. The sleeve may also have an upper end and lower end where the upper end has a diameter that is larger than a diameter of the lower end so that the sleeve may fit around a conically shaped container.
In another embodiment of the present invention, the sleeve may have a variety of textured patterns on the outer layer which may be created using a press. The texture may be a pattern of squares for example.
Furthermore, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, a method of manufacturing the container sleeve is disclosed whereby the method comprises a number of steps. The method disclosed comprises laying a sheet of polymer film material in a set position, this polymer film material has a outer surface and an inner surface; printing indicia and color on the outer surface or inner surface of the sheet of polymer film material which has a density allowing the indicia to remain on the outer or inner surface; laminating the inner surface of the sheet of polymer film material to a second sheet of low density polymer foam material resulting in a laminated material; the laminated material is exposed to high temperature to finish lamination; the laminated material is cut into large sheet; the large sheets are die cut into disassembled container sleeves, each sleeve having a first joint side and a second joint side; the joint sides are then attached to each other with forming a connected container sleeve; the container sleeve is then pressed resulting in a flattened sleeve with two creased ends.
The embodiments of the method of manufacturing the sleeve include using expanded polyethylene foam for the second sheet; or using high density polyethylene film, low density polyethylene film, linear low density polyethylene film or oriented polypropylene film for the initial first sheet of polymer film material. The container sleeve may be manufactured according to any of the mentioned embodiments.
These and other embodiments of the present invention are further made apparent, in the remainder of the present document, to those of ordinary skill in the art.